Gunns pulp mill permit for sale

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings is hopeful a pulp mill can still be built in the state with failed timber company Gunns' permit going on the market.

Gunns receivers KordaMentha have asked for expressions of interest in the company's assets, which include the controversial pulp mill project's permit and Bell Bay site.

The assets also include several forestry businesses and 96,850 hectares of hardwood and softwood plantations.

Gunns' inability to attract an investor partner to build the $2.3 billion pulp mill is considered a major factor in the company's collapse last year.

The mill has also attracted fierce opposition from environmentalists and its permit is likely to still be subject to a court challenge by the Tasmanian Conservation Trust.

"I strongly support the construction of a pulp mill to value-add our extensive plantation resource and create jobs at a time when they are needed more than ever," Premier Giddings said in a statement.

"If the pulp mill proceeds, it will be the single biggest capital investment in Tasmania's history, it will generate significant employment and I am confident it will meet world's best practice environmental standards."